Reeling control mechanism



'March 1s, I1947. E. G. PARVIN j 2,417,780

Y REELING CONTROL HECHANISM Filed oet. 213.k 1944 INVENTOR Eqmqna G. PQR w/v N, Y A Y is undesirably reduced. f

Patented Mar. 1'81947 *BEELING coN'rnoL MEcnANrsM Parvin, Beach HavemN. Application october 2s, 1944, seriali 111.5611359 .4 claims. (c1. 205-16) steps by moving thewiretlirough a series of dies having die apertures of successively ldiminishing diameter. l

The wire drawing machinery proper hasI bc-v come standardized in a general way and form which the art ndssatisfactory, but the means heretofore developed for moving the wire away from the wire drawing machinery and spooling or reeling. it, are not similarly satisfactory, and it is generally recognized that-it would be practically possible to speed up the operation of the standard wire drawing unit vand thereby in- L-icase the wire output or capacity of the unit, if it included more satisfactory means for handling the wire after` it passes through the last diameter reducing dies of the wire drawing unit.

In the practical Operation or wire drawing machinery'. it is necessary to reduce the speed of the rotat'n of thev reel `or spool onwhich the finishedy wireis wound as the outside diameter of the annular body of Wire wound on the reel or spool increases. p Furthermore, lit is generally recognized thata small amount of slippage `of the wire on the draw-off capstany is essential, since when the tension of the wire passing tothe reel from the draw-oir capstan is high enough to prevent such slippage, frequent breakage o-f the Wire invariably occurs. If the slippage is unduly great,.the output of the Wire drawing machinery AtI the present time,-the most usual practice is to-employ means responsiveto the tension o f the wire passing from the draw-off capstan to thereel, toV maintain said-tension approximately constant. -Howeven this practice is no t. entirely satisfactory as there seems tobeno uniform relation'between the wire-.slippage Ion the draw-off capstan and the tension of the wire. Heretofore, some 4use has also been made ,ofl `,means to decrease the rotativeuspeed of the reel yonwhich the wire 50` is wound, in' direct response to the increase in the diameter of theannularbody of wire wound on said reel. but thelast mentioned mechanism doesnot give proper control'of the wire slippage von the vdraw-oir roll orcapstan,

iflcation; 1 Fig. 5 is a section on wire drawing unit which may be of conventional- The 4present invention is characterized by provisions directly responsive. to the ratio yor'pro-` portion of the speed'of rotation of the draw-oir capstan to the. linear speed of the wire in contact with-.the roll, through* which the ratio of those speeds is controlled andthe slippage thereby regulated. In the preferred form of the present in.- vention, the linear speed of the wire passing over and `away from the ydraw-'offA capstan is regulated by meansautomatically responsive to the diier-A ential of the rotative speed of the draw-oir cap- .stan and the rotative speed of an idler roll or capstan rotated by the finished wire which passes over ,the idler capstan.;` without slippage as it 'moves toward or away from the draw-od capstan. yThe means responding tothe differential of the measuring '.v..'1ddrawoi roll speeds, and the means cooperating therewith to. control the speed of the winding .-reel may tal-:e various forms, some of which are shown in the accompany drawings. u

The various features of novelty which lcharacterize my inventionare pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of tliisspecification.V For a -better understanding. of the invention, howevenfits advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which lI have illus- 'trated and described preferredv embodiments of the invention. Y A l Of the drawings: f y

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of wire drawing and reeling machinery including a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. l2 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevation of a portion of the apparatus. shown' in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is tion;

Fig. 4 is an elevation illustratingv a, second modiied reel driving mechanism. s

In'the drawings and referring iii-st` to the ap' paratus shown in Figs. land 2, A 'represents la type, including wire moving rolls and a suitable plurality of dies progressively varying in their orifice diameters. In the manufacture of copper wiresof nished diameters of the order of 1% to .002 of-an inch, it-is usual practice to include '14 dies in each =wire drawing unit.` `As diagram matically shown vinFig. 1', a main driving motor B yoperates .theunit A through a. belt C androan elevation illustrating a-modifica` the line-5 5 of'Fig. 4;-and` Fig. Bis-a diagrammatic illustration of a modi-'fA The wire F drawn from unit A pases from the latter to, and is looped about, the barrel of the draw-oil capstan E. As shown in Fig. 2, said balxl'rel i-s in the form of a grooved pulley or short ro As shown, the wire passing from the drawing unit A to the draw-oi'f capstan E is looped about an idler capstan G barrel portion which as shown in Fig. 2, as identical in form and size with the barrel portion of the capstan E. The wire looped about the free running idler capstan G does not slip on the latter. In consequence, the rotative speed of the capstan G is an accurate measure of the linear speed of the wire passing over the draw-oil' capstan E.

From the draw-oil' capstan E, the wire passes to the reel or spool I on which the wire is wound for transportation, sale and/or use. As shown, the reel I is rotated by the motor B through a variable speed drive unit J which may take various forms. .As diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1, the unit J is of the well known Reeves type, one form of which is shown, for example, in Patv ent 2,108,410, granted February 15, 19.38. As diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1, the variable speed unit J comprises a driving pulley J' of variable diameter connected by a belt J3 to the spindle I' which rotates the reel I removably mounted on said spindle. The pulley J is driven through a belt J3 by the variable diameter pulley J4. The latter is rotated at a normally constant speed by the motor B through a belt K. The pulleys J' and J4 each comprise a pair of coaxial conical pulley elements which are adjustabletoward and away from one another to increase and decrease the effective diameter of the corresponding pulley by increasing or decreasing the diameters of the opposing pulley surfaces engaged by the belt J3.

The variable speed drive unit J ln the form shown, comprises a reversible control motor L. When rotating in one direction the motor L increases the effective diameter of the pulley J and simultaneously decreases the eil'ective diameter of the pulley J4, and when rotated in the opposite direction the motor L increases the diameter of the pulley J4 and simultaneously decreases the diameter of the pulley J.

In the operation of the apparatus shown in i Figs. l and 2, the control motor L is set into operation in one direction or the other, accordingly as an increase or decrease in the tension of the portion of the wire F between the reel I spectively, and rotated in opposite directions at speeds respectively proportional to the rotative speeds of said capstans. The gear elements ME and MG are connected by bevelled gearing to an interposed spur gear M'.-"In normal condition,

the latter continuously rotates in one direction at a speed which increases and decrease.,- as the excess of the speed of the capstan E over the 4. l collar N3. As the speed of rotation o! the gear M2 increases and diminishes, thevweights move the collar N2 axially along tbe shaft N' to the left and right respectively. The movements of the collar N3 axially of the shaft N' oscillates an indicating lever or pointerN4 pivoted at N5. The pointer N4 coacts with afscale Ns to indicate the slippage of the wire on the capstan E. The scale Ns may be graduated, conveniently, in units showing the wire slippage on capstan E as a percentage of the speed of the actual draw-oil' speed of the wire.

In the simple arrangement diagrammatically shown, by way of example, the motor L is encrgized from supply conductors l and 2 through terminals 3, 4 and 5. The terminal 3 .is permanently connected to the supply conductor l, and the motor L operates in one direction or the other accordingly as one or the other of its terminals-4 and 5 is connected to the supply conductor 2.

The connection of the terminals 4 and 5 to t.e supply conductor 2 is shown as directly controlled by a movable contact O, carried by the lever or pointer element N4, and cooperating stationary contacts O and O". The contact O is connected by a conductor 6 to the supply conductor 2. The motor terminals l and 5 are connected to the stationary contacts O' and O" re` spectively. The contacts O and 0* are located at opposite sides of the contact O and are out of engagement with the contact O when the latter is in an intermediate position which it occupies when slippage of the wire on the capstan E is within the acceptable range of slippage. Whei.

" the slippage of the wire on the capstan E becomes unduly small, the resultant reduction in the speed of the indicator shaft N causes the collar N1i to move to the right, as seen in Fig. 2, ar i thus brings the movable contact O into engagement with the stationary contact O'. When thus energized, the motor L'adjusts the variable speed drive J to reduce the speed of the reel I.

'I 'he reduction in the speed of the reel I reduces the tension of the portion of the wire between the reel and the capstan E, and thereby increases the percentage of wire slippage on that capstan. I

Conversely, when the slippage of the wire on the capstan E exceeds the desired percentage, the resultant increase in the speed of the indicator shaft N', operates through the weights N2 to move the collar N3. to the left and thus bring the movable contact O into engagement with the stationary contact O". The engagement of the contacts O and O" energizes the jmotor L for operation in the direction to increase the speed of the reel I and thereby increases the tension of the wire passing from the capstan speed of the capstan G increases and diminishes.

The gear M is geared to a smaller spur gear M2 carried by the driving shaft of a speed indicator N of the centrifugal weight type, compris- E to the reel. Such increase in wire tension results in a decrease in theslippage in the Wire on the capstan E. Ingeneral, the slippage of the wire should be a small percentage .of the speed with which the wire is pulled away from the unit A. The maximum and minimum limits of the slippage permitted. are determined'by th,.- spacing of the contacts` 10.' and O", andmay be varied by adjustment of that spacing When the control motor L is a 3 phasemotor, as it may well be in many cases, its operatior may' be controlled through the contacts O, O and 0" and an-aociated relay actuated, reversing switch arrangement of well, known type.

In the modication shown in Fig. 3, each o. the spindles of the capstans E and G carries a connected to opposite ends or arms of the lever 'l In the modification shown in Fig. :4, coaxial gear elements PE and PG. which are rotated as are the elements ME and MG of Fig. 2, carry on their adjacent faces magnet elements QE and QG, respectively. Interposed between the two mag,- nets is a copper disc R, pivoted to turn about the common axis of the gears PE and PG, and tending to rotate in the same direction as the magnet QE rotates as a result of the fact that the rotative speed of the element PE exceeds that of the element PG. 'Ihe movement of each of the magnets QE and QG, relativeto the disc R, creates eddy currents in the disc and subjects the latter to opposite torques. The torque due to the movement of the rapidly moving magnet QE exceeds that due to the less rapidly moving magnet QG. The disc R has an arm R' Aconnected to a spring S which tends to hold the arm -I against a stationary stop S', except when the wire slip,

page exceeds a predetermined minimum and the excess of the speed of the magnet QE over that of the magnet QG is correspondingly increased. The arm R carries a contact O which engages a stationary contact O when the arm engages the stop S. On a predetermined increase in the slippage, the arm R' moves out of engagement with the stop S' and the contact O engages the stationary Contact O'. The contacts O, 0 and O" of Fig. 4 may control the'motor'L and thereby regulate the speed of the wire as it is regulated with the arrangement shown by Figs. 1 and 2.

In lieu of operating the reel by the main driving motor through a variable speed drive mechanisrn as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the reel may be driven by an individual variable speed motor. Thus, as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6, the armature of a simple D. C. motor is mounted on and rotates the reel shaft I'. The speed of the motor I is controlled by the adjustment of afield rhecstat T in series with eld winding T', of the motor T. The rheostat T is automatically adjusted by the control motor L which may be controlled and operated as in the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As those skilled in the art will understand, the control ofthe speed of the reel by and in accordance with variations in slippage of the wire passing over the draw-oli capstan has important and practical advantages. Those advantages include a direct and accurate control ofthe slippage by simple and reliable mechanism; the wire tenbe utilized in reeling strand material drawn unsion and slippage are independent of the increase in diameter of the coil of wire on the reel as the amount of wire on the reel increases. AThe close control of the extent 0f slippage eiected minimizes wire breakage. The use of the invention thus makes possible a substantial increase in the maximum practical speed of operation of a wire drawing unit and a corresponding increase in the capacity of the unit. While the present invention was devised primarily for use in wire drawing machinery and is of especial utility when so used, those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present invention may der tension from sources of such material other vthan wire drawing machinery.

While in accordance with the provisions ofthe statutes, I have illustrated and described the best forms of embodiment of my invention now known to me, it will beapparent tothose skilled in the art that changes may be made in the forms of the apparatus disclosed without' departing from the spirit of my invention asset forth in the appended claims, and that in some cases certain features of my iinvention, may be used to advantage without-:a corresponding use of other features.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

1. Wire drawing apparatus comprising in combination, a wire Idrawing mechanism, a variable speed wire reeling mechanism, a draw-0E capstan moving Wire from said drawing mechanism to said reeling mechanism, a diierential speed mechanism comprising a. rotatable element rotated by lsaid capstan with an angular velocity proportional to that of the capstan` a rotatable element engaged by the wire moving from said drawing mechanism to said reeling mechanism and thereby rotated with an angular velocity proportional to the linear velocity of the wire and a member movable relative to each of said-elements to deflect from a normal position, and means through which each element subjects said member to a yielding force increasing with the speed of rotation of said element and tending to deflect said vmember in a direction opposite to that in which the other element tends to deflect said member for maintenance of said member in said normal position when the angular velocities of said elements are in a predetermined ratio and through which said member is deflected from said normal position in one direction or in the opposite direction as the ratio of said angular velocities respectively increases above or decreases below said predetermined ratio, and mechanism controlled by said member for regulating the speed of operation of the reeling mechanism and adjusted lby the deection of said member in a direction tending to maintain said angular velocities in said predetermined ratio.

2. Wire drawing apparatus as specied in claim l, in which the said diierential speed mechanism includes a centrifugal speed governor operatively connected to each of said rotating elements for rotation with a speed proportional to the diilerential of the rotative speeds of the two elements and in which saidl governor is arranged to dei-lect said member from said normal direction in one direction or the other as its rotative speed respectively increases above or falls below the speed corresponding to said predetermined ratio.

3. Wire drawing apparatus as specied in claim 1, in which said diierential speed mechanism elements are arranged to rotate in opposite directions about a common axis and in which said 4. Wire drawing apparatus as speciiied in claim f 1, 1n which each of the said differential speed REFERENCES CITED mechanisms includes a Separate centrifugal SOV- The following references are of rcord in the ernor associated with and rotated by each of said me of this patent; elements, and in which each of said governors is in mechanical engagement with said member UNITED STATES P and subjects the latter to a yielding force proy Number Name Date portional to the speed of rotation of said governor 2,178,414 Zarafu Oct. 31, 1939 and tending to deect said'member in a direction 2,255,935 Leweilen Sept. 16, 1941 opposite to that in which the other governor 10 1,886,665 Field Nov. 8, 1932 i tends to deect said member. 2,353,639 Berthold July 18, 1944 G. PARVIN. 

